Kathy Bates on why she kept ovarian cancer private

On Thursday's (March 22) episode of
"Anderson,"
Kathy Bates explains to host
Anderson Cooper why she kept her battle with ovarian cancer a secret. And, it turns out, it was partly a business decision.

"I was advised to [do so],"
says Bates. "I was contracted to go into a movie at that time, 'Little Black Book' with
Brittany Murphy, who I miss very much. My doctors at the time, they had to get insurance approval and all of that so I was very quiet about it and had to go back to work right away."

But the
"Harry's Law" actress, 63, says she would probably do it differently if it happened again.

"I admire people who have been open, like
Melissa Etheridge and women I see walking around facing it without wigs and all of that stuff," she says. "I think I'd be more courageous next time."

She also talks about her diagnosis -- which happened nine years ago -- in this 2008 video for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance: